Real Horror On Halloween Cleveland Cops Arrest Rapist 6 Corpses Found in His Home

6 Bodies Found in Cleveland Home


Police have arrested convicted rapist Anthony Sowell, 50, of Cleveland, Ohio, after finding six bodies in his home. Sowell has lived in the house since his 2005 release from prison after serving a 15-year sentence.


Cleveland police search the porch of Sowell's home. Autopsies have been completed on all six bodies, but no cause of death has been announced.


Police had gone to the house Thursday to arrest Sowell on rape and assault charges, but he wasn't home. Instead, the officers found two decomposing bodies, which prompted a more thorough search. Here, official cars are parked outside the home on Friday.



(Oct. 31) -- A convicted rapist who fled before police arrived to arrest him on new rape charges was arrested Saturday in his inner-city neighborhood after police found six decomposing bodies at his home.

Police spokesman Lt. Thomas Stacho said Anthony Sowell was walking down the street on the east side of Cleveland when authorities spotted him and took him into custody.

Sowell initially denied he was the man authorities were looking for but admitted his identity as officers began fingerprinting him, Stacho said. Charges against him are pending.

Officers initially identified three bodies at Sowell's home, Stacho said. Powell Caesar, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County coroner's office, said additional remains were found and confirmed Saturday as three more bodies, for a total of six.

As of Saturday, autopsies had been performed on all six bodies but no cause of death or names were announced. Two autopsies were done Friday.

The first two bodies were found Thursday night when police went to Sowell's home to arrest him on charges of felonious assault and rape. Police say he had spent 15 years in prison for a 1989 rape.

Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller identified two bodies as black females and said one had died of a violent death ruled a homicide. No race or gender was determined for the others.

Police established a command post in the neighborhood to take missing-person reports and additional information on outstanding missing persons in the neighborhood.

Teresa Hicks, 48, was among the neighbors who said they were relieved about the arrest but left with a heightened fear of crime. She said she has known Sowell since high school.

"He was crazy," she said from her porch Saturday. "Sometimes he would just go off if he didn't have his way."
Darren Dunlap, 38, frequently visits the neighborhood to see his brother or friends. He said Sowell was known for borrowing money and looking for scrap metal to sell.

Hicks said she didn't think Sowell had a job but understood from conversations with him that he lived on a monthly check. She said she didn't know its source.

Police were checking crime reports to find matches for similarities to the 1989 rape or the most recent allegation against Sowell.
Minutes before the arrest was made, police Chief Michael McGrath tried to reassure parents that it was safe for their children to go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood if they followed standard precautions like avoiding strangers and staying in a group.
Hicks said her daughter would not be trick-or-treating.

Detectives with a search warrant found two bodies Thursday on the third floor of a duplex and began checking a fresh grave dug in the basement. The bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition, suggesting they'd been in the home a long time.
Police were checking missing-person reports back to June 2005, when Sowell was released from prison.

As a convicted sex offender, Sowell was required to report regularly to the sheriff's office, which said he had complied.

What a little creep. May he rot in hell.

I can't help but think that this might bring closure to six families searching for their loved ones. So sad.

The crazy, creepy people that surround us....goes to show that compliance in registering......means NOTHING. Don't ever let them out, no reason to keep them alive.

Who is surprised? Another one that is a "role model" - for repeat offenders. This time did he kill them so they couldn't file charges? Guess he won't be getting out on parole any time soon. Poor victims, I hope their DNA will give them a voice and put him away for good, THIS TIME!

This is yet another story that makes my blood boil! This monster, & a complete waste of a human life deserves the Death Penalty. How could they release this piece of garbage? He doesn't deserve to take another breath. Why should we keep this heartless beast alive? His victims' families should be allowed to watch his execution.

This is yet another example of a sex offender being released from prison and then going on to commit murder. Something needs to be done about this. They never seem to get put away for good, or even the entire length of their sentence, until they kill somebody. I don't know the solution. If they are going to keep releasing them, maybe they should brand S.O. on a sex offender's forehead before they release them, and require them to wear an electronic tether device at all times.

I hope this discovery brings closure to the families.

One can never be too careful...Beware... the person you thought you knew is "out to lunch"...and the people you don't know are dangerous...Who can you trust???

Things have certainly changed. These days you just cannot even trust your neighbors. I've noticed a lot of people where I live are being "evicted" for not paying their rent. What does that say about their character, or lack of one? I do NOT open my door to anyone. Whenever I hear footsteps behind me, I always look around to see who's there. One can never be too careful.

Neighbor Says Police Knew About Rapist’s House

The police in Cleveland were notified repeatedly about violence in the house of a convicted rapist where the decomposed bodies of six women were found last week, a neighbor said Monday.

The neighbor of the man, who was arrested Saturday night after the bodies were found, said the police had done little, despite the calls.

Fawcett Bess, 57, the owner of Bess Chicken and Pizza, across the street from the house, said that about two weeks ago, he found the man, Anthony Sowell, in the bushes alongside Mr. Sowell’s house naked and standing over a woman who was bloodied, beaten and also naked. Mr. Bess called 911, he said, and an ambulance soon took the woman away. But the police showed up two hours later and never interviewed him, he said.

Read more: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20091103/ZNYT02/911033016?Title=Neighbor-Says-Police-Knew-About-Rapist-x2019-s-House

When do you think people are going to realize........ we can put all these laws in place..... but if there isn't the $ to fund the manpower hours necessary to carry them through, they are for nought? kh

How could authorities NOT investigate a complaint regarding "the smell of a dead body" coming from that home? Now, as most would have expected, there are more bodies being found in that home, and the yard!!!! What in the Hell is wrong with this picture?

I guess Mr. Sowell is infamous now, with the ever growing body count...is it 10 now ???...whatever happened to the ones that got away from him...surely they will be the nails to seal his fate...I can't believe that the PD didn't get him sooner...I've heard that Rape is a power thing, but I'd really like to know what these perps were thinking about before, during and after the act...castration is too good for these perps...Frontal lobotomy might work if paired with heavy doses of salt peter...of course God could condemn him with a highly potent STD...but that would not have a good outcome for his survivors...He's probably got syphilis already and lets hope not AIDS...I say, No DP for him...LWOP where he can while away the hours he has left of his miserable life...

I saw just a few minutes of NG last night, the story about the guy who had 10 bodies buried in/under/around his house. Some of the neighbors commented it “smelled like something died”, (reminds me of course of Cindy), some thought it was the meat factory nearby (reminds me of the “empty” pizza box theory), and what surprised me the most was some people said they didn’t smell anything, (reminded me of Cindy’s argument on Casey’s car, how she said some people said they didn’t smell anything in/on Casey’s car).

Suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell arraigned

Suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell was ordered held without bond by Cleveland Municipal Court Ronald Adrine on five counts of aggravated murder in the ongoing investigation into the discovery of at least 10 bodies in his Imperial Avenue home.

http://videos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2009/11/suspected_serial_killer_anthon.html

So far, they've found 11 bodies. Sadly, I believe there will be a lot more. I cannot understand why the authorities didn't do something about this monster long before now. Are they just being lazy? Or is it that they just don't care?

I have to wonder - why were none of these women ever reported missing? Or were they? It makes no sense for that many women to just disappear into thin air, in one area and families or friends don't notice?

I was completely baffled too, that the no one could pinpoint where that stench was coming from. If you remember how horrible the smell in KC's car was described, I would imagine the stench of 11 bodies over years would be a thousand fold worse.
However, I wonder if you have heard, the neighbors had blamed the smell on a sausage plant that was next to the house. Even the owner of the plant, stated, he thought it was something from his plant. That, at least made me feel a little less upset with neighbors there. Because before I heard this, I was thinking, OMG, what a neighborhood full of idiots.
Don't even get me started on the LE in the area though. I mean they knew a woman jumped out of the second floor window of this man's house and did NOTHING!

I remember hearing on either Nancy Grace, or Jane Velez Mitchell tonight that this monster told one of his victims that no one would miss her, because, she was just a "crack w****". I think he chose his victims because of their addictions to either drugs or alcohol. Apparently, he thought they wouldn't be missed. Sadly, it looks like he was right.

Second victim at Anthony Sowell's house identified

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A person found dead at suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell's home has been identified as Telacia Fortson, police sources said.

Fortson, 31, lived in East Cleveland. She was last seen in June, according to a missing person's report.

Sowell remains in jail facing charges of aggravated murder. Police have found 11 bodies at his home at Imperial Avenue.

Crews are expected to soon begin searching the house again for more bodies.

Authorities said Wednesday that all 11 victims were black women; eight of them had been strangled.

Fortson is the second person identified. Tonia Carmichael was identified Wednesday. Coroner's staff continue working to determine the identities of the other dead women.

Fortson's mother called East Cleveland police Saturday after she read about the bodies as Sowell's home. She told police she last saw her daughter in June. She told police her daughter used crack cocaine and was last seen wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/second_victim_at_anthony_sowel.html

Ohio Woman: I Got Away From Serial Killing Suspect

CLEVELAND -- A Cleveland woman said Thursday that she was choked and threatened this year by the man now charged with murder after the remains of several people were found on his property -- and that she is racked with guilt for not speaking up earlier.

Tanja Doss told The Associated Press that if she had quickly gone to authorities, her best friend, Nancy Cobbs, might not be missing. She believes Cobbs might be among the 11 victims whose remains were found at Sowell's home.

Read more: http://www.kptv.com/news/21529706/detail.html

Tishana Culver identified as third victim from Anthony Sowell's house



CLEVELAND, Ohio — Authorities have identified a third woman found dead at Anthony Sowell's home as Tishana Culver, 31, who lived down the street from Sowell on Imperial Avenue.

Culver was never reported missing, police said. She lived a few houses down from the home where police found 11 dead women, most of them strangled.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/third_victim_identified_as_tis.html

God, this is just horrifying.....reminds me of Jeffrey Dahmer....right under the noses of everyone...yet so many signs that something was so very wrong.

Unfortunately, I think many of these women might have had addiction problems. I am not saying that anyone deserved what happened to them. However, I am wondering if that's why a lot of them might not have been reported missing. This case is not only horrifying, but, tragic as well. My heart, thoughts & prayers go out to their families.

Fourth body identified from house of suspected serial killer as Nancy Cobbs

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Police on Friday said Nancy Cobbs, who was last seen in April about a half mile from Anthony Sowell's house, is one of the 11 women whose bodies were found on Sowell's property.

Cobbs, 43, is the fourth victim identified by police. Her family feared the worst when police began unearthing the bodies on Imperial Avneue.

Cobbs was a mother of four. She was staying with a daughter on Griffing Avenue, three blocks from Sowell's house, when she disappeared.

Daughter Kyana Hunt sobbed at the crime scene on Imperial Avenue last week.

"I have no way to describe how I feel," Hunt said then. "I want closure. I want to be happy to know she's in a better place. If it isn't her, I want the other families to have closure."

Read more: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/fourth_body_identified_from_ho.html

Imperial murders: Fifth, sixth, and seventh victims identified

CLEVELAND - The Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office has positively identified the fifth, sixth and seventh victims found at 12205 Imperial Avenue. Cleveland Police made notifications to the families of Amelda Hunter, 47; Crystal Dozier, 38; and Michelle Mason, 45, all of Cleveland.

The suspect in the case, Anthony Sowell, is in the Cuyahoga County Jail, being held on $5 million bond. He has been charged with five counts of aggravated murder and the rape and kidnapping of another woman.

So far, only seven of the 11 victims have been identified.

The first to be identified was Tonia Carmichael, 52, of Warrensville Heights. The second was Telacia Fortson, 31, of East Cleveland.

The third was Tishana Culver, 31, of the 12300 block of Imperial Avenue. The fourth was Nancy Cobbs, 43, of Griffing Avenue, in Cleveland.

Read more: http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=124935

This is a travesty, no one was searching for these missing women? It sounds as though some of them were reported, I'm not sure how many. No one cared? LE didn't care? Did they think they were just throw away human beings, their lives worth nothing?

Piper wrote:This is a travesty, no one was searching for these missing women? It sounds as though some of them were reported, I'm not sure how many. No one cared? LE didn't care? Did they think they were just throw away human beings, their lives worth nothing?

Hi, Piper! Unfortunately, it does appear that way. Apparently, because of their lifestyle, LE probably assumes these people just moved without telling anyone.

Suspect in Ohio killings was arrested last year

A woman told authorities in December that a man now accused of killing 11 women had beaten her and tried to rape her, and police and prosecutors are giving conflicting explanations for why a case was abandoned that could have led them months earlier to the bodies scattered around the suspect's stench-filled house.

The woman's complaint, nearly 10 months before police started finding bodies in Anthony Sowell's home, adds to the questions about whether law enforcement, neighbors and victims did enough to catch a suspected serial killer. Five of the victims disappeared after the complaint was filed.

The woman had scratches around her neck and was bleeding from a deep gash in her thumb when she flagged down police near Sowell's home on Dec. 8, according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press.

Police said they found what appeared to be blood on a tissue in the driveway and footprints in the snow indicating a possible struggle.

The report shows that police went into the house and to a third-floor landing, where they saw a trash can containing broken glass, a sweater, pink sweat pants and panties.

They knocked on the door of a third-floor apartment, Sowell answered and they arrested him. They saw drops of blood inside the house and scratch marks on Sowell's face.

Police suggested that Sowell be charged with robbery, but he was released after two days, Cleveland Lt. Thomas Stacho said Friday. Stacho said a detective presented the information to a prosecutor.

The prosecutor decided the woman wasn't credible and wrote a note saying so "underneath a box that the prosecutor checked indicating that the complaint was unfounded," Stacho said.

City prosecutor Victor Perez told The Plain Dealer that the detective felt the woman was not credible. Perez was not in his office Friday morning. A message left for him at the mayor's press office wasn't immediately returned.

Read more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/nov/13/suspect-in-ohio-killings-was-arrested-last-year/

Five lives could have been saved if prosecutors had followed up on the victim's complaint. It seems like we often hear of instances where dangerous criminals could have been captured earlier if law enforcement had followed up more thoroughly on tips and complaints, such as in the Jaycee Dugard case.

You know, even with this information today, it seems even more women could have been saved. How could this have gone on so long? The smell that all neighbors were aware of, the smell was very well known, all other instances of bleeding and assaulted women on the property, not taking these pleas for help seriously? Was the neighborhood so bad that LE just deemed the lives of these women were just utterly worthless? I realize LE can't prevent crimes, but this is total injustice. The signs were there, it's just no one cared.

Piper...I think it's a shame - wouldn't have happened in a high-class neighborhood...but worst of all is the rules that so many have either adopted or caved in to:
don't ask
don't tell
MYOB
snitches will be hurt real bad
not my problem
let __?_____do it
that's just the way it is
don't mess with it
you busybody!
and again, the warning MYOB

Truly sad, the ounce of prevention didn't weigh in enough

Another case of "Too little, Too late"...That PD has a lot of "splainin" to do (as Ricky Ricardo would say)...

Cleveland killings suspect indicted on 85 counts

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Anthony Sowell, the man who police say was living with ten dead bodies and a skull on Imperial Avenue, has been indicted on 85 counts, including 11 counts of aggravated murder.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason made the announcement during a news conference Tuesday afternoon in the case against 50-year-old Anthony Sowell.

A grand jury had been reviewing the case.

Sowell was already charged Nov. 9 by police with five counts of aggravated murder, reflecting five initial homicide rulings from the coroner.

Mason will seek the death penalty.

Sowell's home was searched for three weeks after a woman said she had been attacked there by Sowell on Sept. 22.

He has already been charged with attempted murder, rape, kidnapping, and felonious assault in the alleged attack and has pleaded not guilty.

He has been charged with and attempted murder in that attack and has pleaded not guilty.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20091201/UPDATES01/91201017

Thank God this POS is behind bars...at least the women in his neighborhood can rest a bit easier...One thing for sure...he ain't going no where but to H-E-double hockey sticks when this is over...

Sowell is going with the insanity defense, which doesn't surprise me in the least.

http://www.kxnet.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=480841

It doesn't surprise me either, J4A. He could definitely tell right from wrong, so he's not insane.

CLEVELAND — A registered sex offender charged with killing 11 women and hiding their remains in and around his home agreed Wednesday to let police fence off the house with barbed wire to preserve evidence.

Anthony Sowell, who pleaded not guilty last week by reason of insanity, appeared in handcuffs and dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit at the pretrial hearing.

He responded with few words to the judge's questions, waiving his right to a speedy trial to accommodate his new defense team. The waiver pushes back any trial until mid-2010.

Cuyahoga County assistant prosecutor Richard Bombik said the state hasn't ruled out asking the court to allow the trial jury to visit the Cleveland house. Health considerations would be a factor in any decision about a jury walkthrough, he said. He did not elaborate.

During the hearing, both sides agreed to let the city halt the 24-hour police guard outside the home and fence it off. Bombik said the security arrangements would allow the defense to make its own check of the house. Police have said they have completed their search of the premises.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty approved defense requests to provide money to hire a private investigator and mental-health consultant. But the judge stopped short of issuing a defense-requested gag order that would have barred attorneys and police in the case from publicly commenting.

Authorities say Sowell, 50, lured women to his home and attacked them. The remains of 10 women and a skull were found in the residence or buried in the yard.

Sowell faces 85 counts including murder, rape, assault and corpse abuse in the slayings and in the attacks on three women who survived. He could get the death penalty if convicted of any of the killings.

Also Wednesday, Mayor Frank Jackson appointed a commission to review police policies for handling sexual assault and missing-person reports, but it will not look into the Sowell case. Some relatives of victims complained about police handling of missing-person reports. Police say some victims were never reported missing.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579889,00.html

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/22151827/detail.html

CLEVELAND -- There was a big surprise Wednesday from accused killed Anthony Sowell.

Sowell changed his plea from not of not guilty by reason of insanity to just a plea of not guilty during a pretrial hearing.

Sowell also waived again his right to a speedy trial, which allows both sides until the end of July to try the case. The trial is still scheduled for June 2 and the next pretrial is scheduled for Jan. 27.

Attorneys for Sowell have the option to change the plea again to not guilty by reason of insanity at a later date.

In December, Sowell was officially charged in the slayings of 11 women found dead in his Cleveland home. He faces an 85-count indictment that includes 11 counts of aggravated murder and charges of rape, kidnapping and abuse of a corpse.

Accused Serial Killer Could Face More Charges

Feb. 13, 2010

CLEVELAND -- The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing another case against accused serial killer, Anthony Sowell.

According to the Prosecutor's office, another woman has come forward claiming she was nearly killed by Sowell in 2009.

The bodies of 11 women were discovered inside his Imperial Avenue home last October.

Sowell was indicted on 85 counts of murder, attempted murder, felonious assault, rape and kidnapping charges back in December.

Last month, defense attorneys for Sowell, withdrew their not guilty by reason of insanity plea.

According to the spokesperson, Sowell's attorneys met with prosecutors, along with Judge Strickland, and executed a waiver of a speedy trial until July 31, 2010. No reason was given for the plea change.

The tentative date for Sowell's trial is still set for June 2, 2010.

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-possiblenewchargesinanthonysowellcase,0,1480381.story

Attorneys for Anthony Sowell ask for indictment to be thrown out

By Stan Donaldson
February 19, 2010, 6:05PM



CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The attorneys representing Anthony Sowell asked a judge this week to throw out the charges against him or ban law enforcement from speaking with him.

The move came days after East Cleveland police spoke with Sowell without his lawyers present. He accused of killing 11 women at his house on Imperial Avenue.

Sowell's attorneys, John Parker and Rufus Sims, said in two motions filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, (pdf) that Sowell was interrogated by two East Cleveland detectives without their knowledge on Feb. 12 about a string of crimes in 1989.

The crimes involved the killing of several women found dead inside of abandoned buildings in the city or reported missing. The crimes were never solved.

From the meeting, police were able to confirm that Sowell knew Mary Cox, one of the woman who went missing during the time period. He lived in East Cleveland from 1985 to 1990.

Sowell was charged in December with multiple counts of aggravated murder after the remains of 11 women were found decomposing at his Imperial Avenue home. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Sowell, who is being held in the County Jail with bond set at $6 million.

The motions Sowell's lawyers filed suggest that he was not read his Miranda rights prior to the interview with East Cleveland police.

In response, his attorneys want a judge to restricted law enforcement officers from speaking with him without them being present.

"We think what happened with police speaking with him without us when he has attorneys is outrageous conduct," Sims said. "It is shocking and violates Miranda."

East Cleveland officials said officers did not violate Sowell's rights.

City Prosecutor Willa Hemmons said the officers were able to speak with Sowell because he voluntarily spoke with them.

"I'm sure when our officers spoke with him everything was done by law and procedure," Hemmons said. "It is the right of the person, not the attorney."

Sowell is due in court this week for a hearing. It is not clear if Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold will rule on the motions.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/02/post_220.html

"We think what happened with police speaking with him without us when he has attorneys is outrageous conduct," Sims said. "It is shocking and violates Miranda."

----------------------

I think what happened with women being raped/murdered by Sowell alone when he already had his criminal past is outrageous conduct. It is shocking and violates human rights.

Anthony Sowell's lawyers ask judge to protect client's rights and give more money for defense

By Gabriel Baird, The Plain Dealer
February 23, 2010, 11:48AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Lawyers for suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell argued this morning in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court that East Cleveland police should not have questioned him last week in the County Jail.

The detectives confirmed that Sowell knew a woman who disappeared in 1989.

His attorneys, John Parker and Rufus Sims, asked Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold to bar any police from interviewing their client.

The judge delayed making a decisions because the East Cleveland detectives were not present. The hearing is scheduled to resume at 2 p.m.

The court considered a flurry of motions filed by the defense. Chief among them was a request for more money to defend Sowell, who faces an 85-count indictment in connection with the remains of 11 women that were found in his Imperial Avenue home.

Cuyahoga County limits each attorney's total bill to $12,500 a case, Parker said.

However, Parker said defending Sowell will cost at least $19,000 for each attorney -- and that is just for the time the attorneys spend during the trial this summer.

The trial is expected to last at least two months. Prosecutors have announced 100 potential witnesses and experts they could call to testify.

Saffold said she would write a letter to Presiding Judge Nancy Fuerst asking that the pay limit be raised.

State law limits attorney pay to $75,000 a case, Parker said in an interview.

Parker also asked the judge to seal the identity of any expert who interviews Sowell for his defense.

Saffold declined to rule on this motion, but said she won't afford Sowell any privileges not given to all defendants.

"This is just another case," Saffold said.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/02/anthony_sowells_lawyers_ask_ju.html

Judge Timothy McGinty admits sharing Sowell report; defense unsure of next move

By Mark Puente, The Plain Dealer
March 17, 2010, 6:11PM

news for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio
Anthony Sowell, Breaking News, Cleveland, Crime, Death, Real Time News »
Judge Timothy McGinty admits sharing Sowell report; defense unsure of next move
By Mark Puente, The Plain Dealer
March 17, 2010, 6:11PM
Timothy-McGinty.jpgView full sizeDavid I. Andersen, The Plain DealerCuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy J. McGintyCLEVELAND, Ohio --

A Plain Dealer reporter avoided a contempt-of-court jail stay Wednesday after Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy J. McGinty stepped forward to disclose that he was the source who provided the reporter with a psychiatric evaluation of accused serial killer Anthony Sowell.

After McGinty came forward, Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold ended her quest to compel reporter Gabriel Baird to reveal his source. Saffold had sent deputies to the newspaper on Tuesday to arrest Baird after he did not show up for a hastily scheduled hearing.

McGinty declined to comment Wednesday afternoon.

Baird reported in a Nov. 6 story that Sowell's psychiatric evaluation concluded that he was unlikely to assault women after he served 15 years in prison for attempted rape. The evaluation - done after Sowell's release to determine whether Sowell should be classified a sexual predator -- contained information about Sowell's childhood and his years in prison. The evaluation has nothing to do with the current charges against Sowell

Saffold initially said Wednesday that McGinty, who preceded her as the judge in the Sowell case, might have been within his rights to release the report to the paper. McGinty provided the report for a reason other than to disclose Sowell's psychiatric medical background, Saffold said. She did not elaborate.

Sowell's attorneys, John Parker and Rufus Sims, asked to question McGinty, but the judge was away from the Justice Center attending a funeral.

Parker argued that McGinty's revealing of the documents impugned the integrity of every judge and will make it more difficult to find an impartial jury for Sowell's trial. He is accused of killing 11 women whose bodies were found at his house and in his yard last fall.

Parker requested that Saffold conduct a full investigation.

"We think it affects our client's right to a fair trial," Parker said. "We need to find out exactly from Judge McGinty what happened."

Sowell's lawyers also wanted to know if Baird had more than one source for the information. Newspaper lawyer Lou Colombo told Saffold that there was just one source and that Baird viewed the documents and didn't copy them.

Saffold said that she had needed to determine who revealed the information to make sure it wasn't a member of her staff. Baird did not plan to reveal his source to Saffold, and the newspaper maintains that the information is protected from disclosure under Ohio's Shield Law, which says reporters do not have to reveal sources.

Saffold said Wednesday she considers the matter closed.

Assistant County Prosecutor Richard Bombik said defense attorneys could file a complaint with the bar association to investigate whether McGinty broke any rules by releasing the documents.

Sims said later Wednesday in an interview that members of the defense team are not sure what they will do next. Going to the bar association, he said, might get vengeance against McGinty but won't help his client get a fair trial.

Sowell's lawyers questioned how McGinty even got the report. The judge shared the report with the newspaper before he was assigned the case.

McGinty was initially assigned the Sowell case on Dec. 3. McGinty recused himself eight days later, saying his own "public policy reform efforts" might lead to a conflict in hearing the high-profile trial.

McGinty declined at the time to elaborate on the conflict, but Plain Dealer Editor Susan Goldberg said the judge had sent e-mails to the newspaper expressing his views on the case. The e-mails were sent before McGinty received the case.

Numerous Plain Dealer reporters attended the hearing to show support for Baird. Before it started, Saffold's bailiff told two Plain Dealer photographers that the judge would not grant permission for them to take pictures or video in the courtroom. But she allowed three television stations to document the hearing.

The Plain Dealer photographers did not abide by the order and Saffold later said there would be no sanctions for using the material.

Saffold criticized The Plain Dealer during the hearing for a story published Wednesday detailing some of her controversial moments on the bench.

"It was a smut-and-smear story directed at this court," Saffold said. "Probably and obviously, it was intended to intimidate this court so that the court cannot proceed in a judicial manner."

She said that many of the episodes mentioned in the story were written by reporter James Ewinger and that he nearly attacked her during an endorsement meeting in 2000 with editorial writers and reporters.

Ewinger attended the hearing as a spectator.

"I was almost physically attacked by Mr. Ewinger, and Brent Larkin had to separate us," Saffold said. "I remained seated as he advanced toward me."

Larkin, the paper's former editorial page director, scoffed at Saffold's claim.

"That is 100 percent untrue," Larkin said. "Jim was aggressive in his questions. There was nothing even remotely close to a physical altercation."

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/03/judge_timothy_mcginty_admits_s.html

Prosecution can use evidence of attacks in serial-killings case

By Thomas J. Sheeran
Associated Press

POSTED: 01:30 p.m. EDT, Mar 24, 2010

CLEVELAND: A judge has ruled that prosecutors can present evidence about women who say they were attacked by a suspected Cleveland serial killer at his trial in the deaths of 11 other women.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold made the ruling Wednesday. Prosecutors expect to submit evidence involving three or four women who say they survived attacks by 50-year-old Anthony Sowell.

Defense attorneys told the judge they cannot be ready for the June 2 trial date and asked for a delay. The judge asked them to keep working toward the June date.

Sowell has pleaded not guilty to the killings.

Authorities say he lured women to his home, attacked them and dumped their remains in and around his house. Prosecutors seek the death penalty.

CLEVELAND: A judge has ruled that prosecutors can present evidence about women who say they were attacked by a suspected Cleveland serial killer at his trial in the deaths of 11 other women.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold made the ruling Wednesday. Prosecutors expect to submit evidence involving three or four women who say they survived attacks by 50-year-old Anthony Sowell.

Defense attorneys told the judge they cannot be ready for the June 2 trial date and asked for a delay. The judge asked them to keep working toward the June date.

Sowell has pleaded not guilty to the killings.

Authorities say he lured women to his home, attacked them and dumped their remains in and around his house. Prosecutors seek the death penalty.

http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/89025727.html

Judge says she is considering banning media from Anthony Sowell proceedings

By Gabriel Baird, The Plain Dealer
March 24, 2010, 12:16PM



CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The judge presiding over the case of suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell said today she is considering barring the media from future court proceedings.

Cuyahoga County Common Please Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold said media coverage of the case is beginning to interfere with bringing the matter to trial. Sowell is accused of killing 11 women whose remains were found in his home on Imperial Avenue in Cleveland.

Saffold singled out The Plain Dealer's coverage of the case, accusing the newspaper of trying to intimidate her. She did not elaborate on what she meant. The pronouncement came during a pretrial hearing for Sowell.

Saffold's latest bout with the newspaper came last week when she ordered the arrest of a reporter in her quest to determine how the newspaper obtained a 2005 evaluation of Sowell to determine whether he should be labeled a sexual predator. Prosecutors have since determined the evaluation was a public record.

In today's hearing, Sowell's lawyers said they will not be ready for the scheduled June 2 trial date. They said they have not received needed evidence from Cleveland police or the Cuyahoga County coroner. They also have not gotten Sowell's military or prison records. They said they will need weeks or even months to prepare after they receive all the records.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/03/judge_says_she_is_considering.html

Lawyer for Anthony Sowell to ask Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold to step down over Internet comments

By James F. McCarty,The Plain Dealer
March 26, 2010, 7:00PM



CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A lawyer for accused serial killer Anthony Sowell said the judge hearing the case should step down because of disparaging comments made about the lawyer on the Internet by someone using the judge's e-mail account.

Attorney Rufus Sims filed a motion Friday asking Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold to remove herself from an unrelated rape case set for a pre-trial next week. Sims, who is handling both cases, intends to ask her to step down from every case he has pending in her courtroom, including the Sowell case.

Sowell, 50, is accused of killing 11 women whose bodies were found at his Imperial Avenue home.

"She is not fit to hear any case that I am involved with," Sims said Friday afternoon after filing the four-page motion at the Justice Center.

"I am through with her, finished forever," he added. "She can never be involved in another case of mine."

Sims walked a copy of the motion to Saffold's 21st floor courtroom, but the judge was not there. He left the document with a court worker.

The trouble between Sims and Saffold started Thursday when a Plain Dealer reporter asked him about a series of comments made on stories on the newspaper's Internet affiliate, cleveland.com, under the moniker "lawmiss." The judge's personal AOL account was used to set up the lawmiss account.

One of the comments criticized Sims for his defense work in a vehicular homicide trial in which Saffold was the judge. Sims' client in that case was convicted of vehicular homicide and sentenced to six months in jail.

The commenter advised him to "shut his Amos and Andy style mouth." The post said Sims did a disservice to his client and that other lawyers could've done a better job.

Saffold has denied writing any of the comments. Her 23-year-old daughter, Sydney, on Thursday took responsibility for writing all of the comments. Sydney Saffold is a former law student living in Columbus.

Court records -- obtained by the newspaper under a public-records request -- showed that three of the comments were made at the exact times and dates someone was logged on to cleveland.com on the judge's office computer.

Larry Zukerman, an attorney for Saffold, on Thursday challenged the accuracy of the times listed in the records. Neither Saffold nor Zukerman were available to comment Friday on Sims' motion.

Sims said Thursday he doubted the younger Saffold wrote the comments. But it doesn't matter who wrote the comments, he said in the motion.

"Clearly," Sims wrote, "the above alleged personal attacks and insults heaped upon this counsel by every appearance reflect bias and impropriety which erode the public confidence and integrity of the court."

"The above referenced comments which have been attributed to this court were either written by or orchestrated by this court," he added. "This court's impartiality is clearly suspect."

Sims said he hoped Saffold would step down voluntarily from all his cases. He is scheduled to appear in her courtroom Monday morning for a pre-trial hearing on behalf of accused rapist Steven Ricardo Jackson.

If Saffold refused to step down from the case, Sims said he would take his complaint to the Ohio Supreme Court.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/03/lawyer_for_anthony_sowell_to_a.html

Judge Accused of Case-Related E-Mail Declines to Step Down, Blames Media

Posted Apr 5, 2010 5:39 PM CDT
By Martha Neil

An Ohio judge accused of making anonymous comments about her cases online under the moniker "Lawmiss" has denied a motion to recuse herself by a lawyer representing a defendant in a serial murder case.

Although Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold said today that she hasn't yet decided whether to step down from overseeing the case of serial killer suspect Anthony Sowell, she refused today to recuse herself in three other cases in which attorney Rufus Sims also represents the defendant, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The judge said she wasn't going to be intimidated, the newspaper recounts, and blamed the Plain Dealer for launching "one of the most vicious, mean-spirited attacks that anyone could ever make."

Sims says he is considering an appeal of the recusal issue to the state supreme court.

As detailed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, someone using the judge's personal e-mail account reportedly criticized Sims and commented about Sowell and at least one other client of Sims. Saffold said it was not she who did so, and her adult daughter, a onetime law student, has taken responsibility for some of the anonymous Lawmiss posts. According to the newspaper, some of the approximately 80 comments by Lawmiss were made from Saffold's court computer.

Additional coverage:

ABAJournal.com: "‘Lawmiss’ Comment on Accused Serial Killer Is Linked to Judge Overseeing His Case"

ABAJournal.com: "After Web Post About Serial Murder Case, Judge Should Step Down, Lawyer Says"

Miami Herald: "Leonard Pitts Jr.: The base side of anonymity"

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_accused_of_case-related_e-mails_wont_step_down_blames_newspaper/

Anthony Sowell's lawyers ask Ohio Supreme Court to remove judge from case

By Karen Farkas, The Plain Dealer
April 19, 2010, 5:49PM

Lawyers ask Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold to recuse herself from the Anthony Sowell case



CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Serial-killing suspect Anthony Sowell's lawyers asked the Ohio Supreme Court Monday to disqualify Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold from presiding over Sowell's trial on counts of aggravated murder of 11 women.

Saffold should be removed "to avoid even the appearance of impropriety and to ensure the public's confidence in the integrity of the judicial system," wrote Sowell's lawyers, Rufus Sims and John Parker.

Saffold hung up on a reporter who called to ask if the judge wished to comment.

Sowell's lawyers use the same arguments in their Supreme Court affidavit that they made in three motions they filed asking Saffold to voluntarily step down.

Saffold, who already had denied two of the motions, rejected the third Monday. She also rejected requests by Sowell's defense team to preserve records of Saffold's AOL account and copies of the hard drives of computers used by Saffold and her daughter, Sydney.

Part of the lawyers' argument for Saffold's disqualification is about comments made via computer on cleveland.com, a website affiliated with The Plain Dealer, in which someone using the moniker "lawmiss" discussed cases before Saffold. One lawmiss comment disparaged Sims.

The lawmiss username on cleveland.com was made with an AOL e-mail address that Saffold has used.

Saffold told The Plain Dealer in March that she did not comment on her cases or about Sims on cleveland.com, and her daughter took responsibility for all lawmiss comments on cleveland.com.

In their affidavit, Parker and Sims describe the lawmiss comments as "shocking" and argue that the comments "give the appearance of bias and prejudice."

Sowell's lawyers also say in the Supreme Court filing that Saffold has had conversations about the Sowell case outside the presence of Sowell, Parker and Sims. The lawyers claim the canons of judicial ethics prohibit such "ex parte" conversations.

Parker and Sims say Saffold had those conversations with The Plain Dealer and with fellow Judge Timothy McGinty. In a hearing last week, McGinty testified that his conversation with Saffold was about his release to The Plain Dealer of a 2005 psychological evaluation of Sowell. After Sowell asked the court about the release of the evaluation, Saffold last month ordered a Plain Dealer reporter into court to reveal his source. McGinty then called Saffold to say he showed the evaluation to the paper.

McGinty also testified last week that he wrote a note of support to Saffold, a note that Parker and Sims have asked to see. Saffold has refused to provide the note, saying it is personal. On Monday, she rejected the defense team's request that she preserve the note.

Parker said in an interview Monday that all of the items the lawyers sought to preserve factor into the affidavit they filed with the Supreme Court.

The court's chief justice will rule on the motion. That could be Justice Paul Pfeifer, the acting chief justice following the unexpected death of Chief Justice Thomas Moyer. Or it could be Franklin County Probate Judge Eric Brown, who was named by Gov. Ted Strickland to replace Moyer and begins work on May 3.

Supreme Court spokesman Chris Davey said when an affidavit of disqualification is filed, a judge has an opportunity to respond in writing. The Supreme Court has no deadline for handling such matters, and they can take months. Until the Supreme Court makes a decision, the Sowell case - which had been scheduled for trial June 2 -- is on hold.

Sowell is accused of killing 11 women, whose remains were found last fall at his house on Imperial Avenue in Cleveland.

Sims and Parker made their original bias claim against Saffold in late March, after The Plain Dealer reported on the lawmiss comments.

Sims, who was appointed by the court in the Sowell case, has not accused Saffold in court documents of making the lawmiss comments, but he has told The Plain Dealer that he believes Saffold wrote them.

The judge and her daughter sued Plain Dealer Editor Susan Goldberg, The Plain Dealer and affiliated companies April 7, saying that they breached a Web site privacy policy by publishing the information in the stories.

The newspaper's disclosure of the link between lawmiss and an e-mail account that Saffold has used has been controversial with some cleveland.com commenters, who say they believed they couldn't be identified on the Web site.

A Plain Dealer online editor looked up the e-mail address for lawmiss -- which was accessible through software used to post stories to the Web site -- after lawmiss posted a comment about the mental state of a Plain Dealer reporter's relative.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/04/anthony_sowells_lawyers_ask_oh.html

Maybe this is where KC's defense got the idea of asking Judge Strickland to recuse himself......

Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold is removed from the Anthony Sowell murder trial

By Karen Farkas, The Plain Dealer
April 22, 2010, 3:00PM

Acting Ohio Chief Justice Paul E. Pfeifer removed Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold from hearing the case of accused serial killer Anthony Sowell Thursday.

Pfeifer made the ruling based on comments posted on cleveland.com about the Sowell case. The comments were posted through a username created with an AOL e-mail address used by Saffold. The judge has denied making the comments, and her 23-year-old daughter has said she posted them.

Pfeifer found no evidence to suggest that Saffold made the postings, but he found the comments have "created a situation that 'poses an impediment to the judge's ability to resolve any remaining legal and factual issues in a way that will appear to the parties and the public to be objective and fair.' "

Pfeifer wrote in his order, "An objective observer who has read the online postings might reasonably question why comments about a defendant and defense counsel appearing before the judge were posted on the judge's personal online account, even if the judge did not make the comments herself."

Pfeifer made the ruling the same day Saffold wrote a strongly-worded letter to the Ohio Supreme Court arguing that she should not be disqualified from presiding over the Sowell trial.

Sowell's attorneys, Rufus Sims and John Parker, asked the court Monday to remove Saffold from the case, arguing that her actions have created an appearance of bias against Sims.

In her response, faxed to the court Thursday morning, Saffold wrote she has "not ever shown a bias, enmity or prejudice to a defendant or his counsel" in her 15 years on the bench.

"I have never publicly or anonymously, online or otherwise, attacked Defense Counsel Sims, his co-defense counsel or Defendant Sowell," she wrote. "Absent any proof that I have, any further speculation on the matter is mere conjecture, an attempt to make this judicial process a sideshow and shift focus from the real issues in this case."

Sowell is accused of killing 11 women whose remains were found last fall at his house on Imperial Avenue in Cleveland.

Sims and Parker, who filed three motions with Saffold asking her to step down before they went to the Supreme Court, have argued for her dismissal from the case for a variety of reasons. Their overall argument is that Saffold should be disqualified to remove any appearance of prejudice or bias.

The defense lawyers argued that Saffold had a private conversation with fellow Judge Timothy McGinty about the Sowell case without Sowell or his lawyers present. In her filing Thursday, Saffold said her conversation with McGinty "did not have anything to do with substantive matters or issues. . . It did not go into the merits of this matter, i.e., the guilt of innocence of the Defendant or the ability of the Defendant to receive a fair trial."

Pfeifer ruled that Parker and Sims did not show that Saffold engaged in an improper private conversation with McGinty.

Another reason the lawyers offered for removing Saffold is the series of comments posted on cleveland.com, a website affiliated with The Plain Dealer, about cases in Saffold's courtroom, including the Sowell trial. One comment disparaged Sims. The comments were made under the username "lawmiss." A newspaper analysis of county records found that Saffold's courthouse computer often visited cleveland.com at the same time lawmiss comments were posted.

Saffold said in her Supreme Court filing that, "like thousands of other Clevelanders, I do visit the "Cleveland.com" site, which is the online version of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The fact that my computer was open to Cleveland.com at the same time that lawmiss posted comments is merely coincidence -- two things happening at the same time, but with no causal relationship between them."

The Sowell defense team also argued for Saffold's removal because the judge has sued the newspaper and affiliated companies for $50 million, claiming the defendants violated a website privacy policy by publishing a story about the lawmiss comments. The Sowell defense team says the lawsuit gives Saffold a financial stake in the Sowell trial.

Saffold's response: "This is categorically untrue. The subject matter of the civil suit relates to the Plain Dealer's violation of its online privacy policy with regard to the comments posted by my daughter and the Plain Dealer's inaccurate attribution of her postings to me." Pfeifer found nothing to indicate Saffold had a financial stake in the Sowell trial.

Saffold maintained that that she has no bias against Sims. She wrote that she has heard approximately 20 cases in which Sims represented the defendant and at no time has any bias been claimed. Nor, she said, has any bias been claimed or shown in any case before her on the bench.

But Pfeifer quoted a longtime appellate judge in his ruling, saying that "When the case becomes about the judge rather than the facts of the case and the law, it is time for the judge to step aside. . . I conclude that Judge Saffold should be removed from the underlying case to avoid any appearance of impropriety."

Pfeifer said he saw nothing that caused him to question Saffold's ability to be fair and impartial in the Sowell case.

"The record before me does not support a finding of actual bias or prejudice on Judge Saffold's part. Nevertheless, her removal is necessary."

A new judge for the case will be selected by random draw.

Saffold could not be reached for comment.

Sims said, "The appearance of impropriety was something he could not overlook. . . We always said it was about that. All we ever wanted to do is move this case forward. We are happy to move on."

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/04/judge_shirley_strickland_saffo_2.html

It seems the internet is becoming quite lethal to judges. It is the age of online newspapers, blogs, forums.....are we to expect judges to live in a cave? I certainly don't want them to.